2014 U.S. Open Golf Championship for iPad app review: a brilliant new take on a sports event app

Introduction

If you have read reviews by me before, you know I always claim that most sports apps look alike and offer similar functionality. I had little hope for any big event to come around and release an app that completely proves me wrong. This day has come with the release of the 2014 U.S. Open Golf Championship for iPad. First of all, this app by the United States Golf Association is not universal at all; it doesn’t want to be. It’s for iPad only. This has changed the design ethic completely as they can be a lot more creative if it only has to work on one screen! This does drive the size of the app up a little bit, but it is still only just over 150 MB.

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What it Offers

Before I dive into to details on why I’m so blown away by this app I will tell you what the app has to offer. First of all, the app offers live video is you are based in the USA. Outside the United States this will not work, but the other coverage the app offers makes up for that. You can set your favorite players, making it easy for you to scan the personalized leaderboards, and receive results when not using the app. There is also a full news page with all the golf news about this tournament that starts in a few days. Lastly you can get flyovers of all the holes in the course, with important details about each hole. 

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Design and Layout

Now for the main event I will explain why I’m so happy to have found this app. The design of this app is completely different than any other sports app. You start the app and you arrive on the dashboard, a page that displays all the information available in one simple screen. In the top of the screen there is a small mosaic button that when pressed summons a mosaic screen from where you can go to any other information screen in the app. This all works so intuitively and smoothly that I am sad that no one else has ever thought of this. 

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Pros and Cons

Pros

• The app is completely free
• Live feeds of the event
• Amazing design and simplicity
• Tons of information about players and the event

Cons

• Live feeds only available in the U.S.

Conclusion

I was completely surprised about 2014 U.S. Open Golf Championship for iPad. When I downloaded the app I thought I would get to see another boring sports app with lazy design and tons of irrelevant information but instead I got a streamlined app with information exactly as it should be delivered. I take my hat off for the designers of this amazing app. The app is only available for iPad and I hope to see an app for iPhone as well.